 My name is Joë. I study how the brain works. To be very honest, the first thing was the beach. But what kept me here is the vision of OIST. It has a fantastic vision that I have not seen anywhere else and I cannot imagine any other place in the world I would be able to do my work as well as here. This is a place where it matters what I do. You can make a difference. I'm Keiko Koenem and I work on cell biology here at OIST. I chose OIST because of the respect to every single person. So I'm female and I'm an agent. But when I came here, everybody listened to me. My name is Simone Pigolotti. I was born in Rome, Italy, and two years ago I moved to OIST. I am a theoretical biophysicist and the thing that attracted me about OIST is the interdisciplinary environment. This means that it's very easy to interact with other scientists working on very different subjects and this is very stimulating for my research. My name is Thomas Bouvinion. I am Belgian. I am studying the ecology and volition of bugs and more particularly of termites and cockroaches. Before applying at OIST, I had the chance to visit OIST and I was really amazed by the architecture and by the environment provided by OIST. My name is Paola Laureno. I'm originally from Italy. I'm studying protein engineering and protein evolution here in OIST. When I came to OIST, I was very impressed about the resources and facilities that you can really start a challenging project and carry them on. For a young PI, as I am, this is a great opportunity. There is no limitation in which resource we can do. My name is Yoshinori Okada. I want to explore new materials in which we can see exciting functionalities such as superconductor and magnetism. The main reason I came to OIST is that OIST provides us great opportunity to be really financially independent here. The imaging facility at OIST is just fascinating. On a single floor, we have several best microscopes. So if you bring your cover slips, you can compare like five different best microscopes. The thing I like the most of these places is that it is a friendly environment because people can follow their goals. They don't have many constraints. There is a very nice working atmosphere. The community of OIST is wonderful. That's one of the main reasons why it's so unusual. OIST is attracting excellent, unusual, exceptionally talented people from all around the world. For great science, you really need to have exceptional minds and a little bit of craziness to be able to go beyond what's conventionally considered possible or normal or what's within the limits of what we can do. We really have the possibility to work on whatever question we think is innovative. We have a lot of independence and that's what is great to work in. There is no constraint, no hierarchy. And this makes science much easier. In OIST, because we are still small, so we need to supervise self-modulated students, even if their field is out of my field. It's really risky and it's very fun for me. I like cycling in the morning. I live in Yomitang, which is a very nice village. And I like the fact that there is not so much traffic, so it's quite safe to cycle. And I like the contrast of landscapes, the town and the jungle and the sea. OIST is located in the middle of the forest and for ecologists, like I am, it's really a perfect place to work. Okinawa is very special for its culture. Its food is amazing and I think the ocean is so fertile. Just swimming around, you can see so many creatures. OIST is very family-friendly. I have two small kids going to the on-campus preschool, which is bilingual. Oh, this tropical environment makes me very, very productive and happy. That's why I like Okinawa. Here, you are part of Okinawa. It doesn't matter where you're from, this place takes you in and you are Okinawan. Whether or not you speak the language, this you can call home. I'm Tom Bourguignon and I'm studying bugs, like this one. My name is Paola Laurino and this is what I study. I'm Simone Pigolotti, this is what I study. I'm Joette and this is what I study. My name is Yoshinori Okada, this is what I study. I am Keiko Kono, this is what I study.